To assess the health of the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems of a subject, a subject is often tested on a piece of exercise equipment to the subject's limit of tolerance or point of exhaustion while measurements of metabolism are taken. For example, during a cardiovascular initial assessment exercise test for exercise intolerance, it is often desirable to exercise a test subject on exercise equipment according to a test protocol that increases the testing subject's work rate and, consequently, the subject's oxygen uptake utilization over time. Specifically, treadmill exercise tests that gradually expand the tolerable work rate range of the test subject during the test may be used to provide an initial assessment of the subject. However, current treadmill protocol tend to miss the mark of providing a work rate and oxygen uptake response that begins low enough for severely limited subjects, and increases steadily and quickly enough to exhaust the subject within an appropriate time period.